Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-05-09
REV. w. j. CHICHESTER.
His sermon at the Installation OF
a Pastor.


Last week the new pastor of the Ar
lington Presbyterian Church at River
side was duly installed. Rev. w. j..
Chichester, pastor of the large First
Presbyterian Church of Los Angeles,
presided and preached the sermon from
Matt. 1873, Behold, a sower went
forth to SOW" As the photograph of a
rose preserves the outline of the queen
of flowers, but can preserve neither the
color nor the fragrance, SO an outline
sketch of Mr.. Chicheste, 5 sermon can
not reproduce the charm of ringing ut
terance and animated beauty OF his
thoughts. Those who heard him can
easily understand why his church is al.
ways crowded.
After brief Introduction, Mr.. Chi
chester sharply and clearly elaborated
the following points: lst-Christ!anity
is not the development of an old prin-
ciple in man, but the implanting of a
new. Every germ of divine life is i'm.
planted. There is no such thing as
spontaneous generation in religion. Sal
vation comes from without. Evolution,
cultivation, education, civilization do
not, and cannot develop godly piety
and salvation. This parable OF Christ
oserthrows all this modern nonsense of
Christianity being development from
what is already in man. Man is merely
soil. Christianity is divine seed from
the skies dropped into the soil.
2d-Christianity is constructive not
destructive. Christ came not to de-
stroy, root up, cut down, but mainly to
so,o seed.
There is an aspect of Christianity
which is polemic. But the church is
commissioned above all things else to
build up, not destroy. Good is to over.
come evil. Iconoclasm, criticism, bitter
accusation and denunciation are not
Gods way of furthering his kingdom.
1t is not by abusing what in other
people we don't like, but by showing
them a better way, and filling their
hearts with seeds of truth and right.
eousness that Christ's kingdom is pro
noted.
3d-Gospel fruitage depends rather
upon the soil than upon the sowing.
Good hearing makes good preaching
The pews can preach as loud and faith
fully as the pulpit.
not as we do, the parable of the sower
but the ''four kinds of SOIL" 1t is the
condition OF receptivity on the part oi
the hearers that makes all the difference
between barrenness and q harvest.
(a) Hard hearts, that hear the gospe
and make no use of it at all.
(b) Shallow hearts, not much bette
than hard hearts--the sort who make
wonderful amount of noise for littl
while and then as suddenly quit. A
| Spurgeon says, they are ''little hyssop
who think they have grown into cedar
of Lebanon in weeks time."
(c) Thorny ground hearts. They ar
good soil, but it is preoccuped. The
might do wonderful things for Chris
and his cause, but it all goes for "care
of this world, deceitfulness of riches au
lusts of other things" and the gospt
graces yield no fruitage.
(d) The best soil, the only valuabl
soil, "good, honest hearts" who receiv
the word, nuture it by faith, meditatio
and prayer, and yield the fruits ,
righteousness. Fruitage is the grei
object for which the seed is sowI
"Herein is my Father gloritied, that )
bear much fruit.
| After the sermon, Mr.. Gage went fo
ward and gave assent to the constit,
,ional questions; and by uplifted hant
the church and congregation gave assel
to the questions asked of them. M
Chichester then, on the authority
Presbytery, declared the PASTORAL r,
, lation established.
As is customary in the Presbytcrif
church, charge was then given to Il
pastor by Rev. VIM. Donald, who bas,
his address very pertinently upon Il
W ords OF our Savior; Therefore, eve